The present invention concerns a band saw, especially adapted for cutting bone and meat and is of the type which has a saw blade running over an upper and a lower saw wheel, a feed table for the cutting stock, and a guard rail that covers the saw blade.
Insofar as the cutting process permits, bone and meat saws must be equipped so that the operating personnel expose their hands an absolute minimum to the danger region of the saw blade.
Band saws are known which have a guard rail that covers the saw blade and is mounted in the upper wheel housing of the machine and which can be displaced parallel to the saw blade to a designated height. These guard rails have the disadvantage that they must be arrested at the height of the cutting stock and hinder the continuous feed. A reliable accident prevention is thereby not provided, because the guard rail will remain arrested at the selected height necessary for the passage of the stock or at the maximum possible passage height even when no cutting stock is being sawed. Also, the guard rail may remain elevated at the maximum height when cutting stock having a relatively small height is to be sawed.
Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a protective cover or guard rail for the envisaged working region of the saw blade, the height setting of which automatically adapts itself to the cutting stock and to the differences in height of an individual item of cutting stock and after completion of the sawing process automatically assumes an initial position covering the entire sawing region.